Run defense still a problem (1 Viewer)

[B_doggman47]

I re-watched that play several times and Granderson never held and I looked at Bresee on that play, he didn't hold either. Bresee was trying to get across to where the play was going and he was trying to push his way through the Guard and the Center. But at no time did grab onto any of them. That was a bad call.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

That was just a completely made up call. There's literally nothing there. I'll never understand the refs making these nonsensical calls. Maybe they have money on the game. It's the only valid explanation.

agree. It’s nefarious, not neglect.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Foskey - Looks like a bust.
Turner - Bust.
Boyd - Unknown.
Ridgeway - Mediocre at best situational IDL.
Shepherd - Mediocre at best situational IDL.
Saunders - Mediocre at best situational IDL.
Jordan - Time to retire. Legend, all time great, but it is time.
Kpassagnon - Mediocre at best situational DE, injured, torn Achilles, may be career ending at his age.

Young - Nobody lets genuinely good DE's hit free agency, unless they can't afford them. The 49ers have $55m!!! in cap space. They let this guy walk. He's actually been a solid pass rusher for the Saints, but he just has not been able to get home to the QB. Sack numbers don't tell the whole story for Young. Does have questionable hustle issues once the play is past him.

Bresee - HUGE Hit. On pace for 13.5 sacks this season, phenomenal for a second year IDL. Thanks to being a first round pick, he has a fifth year option which the Saints would be criminally stupid to not pickup. If he develops against the run, he could be one of the best IDL in the entire league.

Granderson - HUGE Hit. Best Edge pass rusher on the team by far. From UDFA to legit NFL starter. Does need to improve against the run.


The Ain't Nobody Got Time For That Summary:
The only good DL the Saints have are all good against the pass. There are zero elite run stoppers in the line.

Great write up, totally agree.

Also, with Father Time seemingly finally getting ahold of our very own London Fletcher clone (DD) it’s not looking too good. DD is probably also trying to play thru his injury…..

Really do hope Bresee can get better vs the run as he’s very bad in that department. Love the pass rush tho. He’s no Laroi Glover but he’s the closest thing we have lol.

 

[BreesusSaves]

Great write up, totally agree.

Also, with Father Time seemingly finally getting ahold of our very own London Fletcher clone (DD) it’s not looking too good. DD is probably also trying to play thru his injury…..

I think people just gotta face the fact he's a 35 year old Linebacker. He defied the odds wonderfully, but the lug nuts holding the wheels on are starting to loosen.

 

[Elvis]

I think people just gotta face the fact he's a 35 year old Linebacker. He defied the odds wonderfully, but the lug nuts holding the wheels on are starting to loosen.

The team is kind of at a crossroads with it's older players and not much behind them. DD, Cam, and Mathieu are all top 10 cap hits and only one is playing up to that right now on defense for various reasons. Add in that offensive players AK, Taysom, Carr and Ramczyk are also in the top 10 salaries and we have some serious money tied up in aging players that are an injury or a year older away from being ineffective. The next couple of seasons are really going to change the faces on this roster.

 

[BreesusSaves]

The team is kind of at a crossroads with it's older players and not much behind them. DD, Cam, and Mathieu are all top 10 cap hits and only one is playing up to that right now on defense for various reasons. Add in that offensive players AK, Taysom, Carr and Ramczyk are also in the top 10 salaries and we have some serious money tied up in aging players that are an injury or a year older away from being ineffective. The next couple of seasons are really going to change the faces on this roster.

Hard to swallow pill for 99% of the fanbase: extending Kamara is suicide with how high his usage is this season and his body already breaking down.

 

[Elvis]

Hard to swallow pill for 99% of the fanbase: extending Kamara is suicide with how high his usage is this season and his body already breaking down.

Feels like we're using him up honestly. I know there isn't much choice, but still.

 

[Alan12]

Rush defense has been bad since Malcolm Brown left.

I said this in another thread about this same subject. I have been screaming for a big NT since the Saints traded Malcolm Brown away to the Jags. He could at times push the pocket on passing downs, but his forte' was stuffing the run. We were top 5 in run defense for 3 straight years. They need to let Saunders bulk back up to about 325-330#. he was a very good run stuffer when he was with the Chiefs and would disrupt plays in the backfield. John Ridgeway is the closest thing we have to NT @ 6'5"/324#. I would love to see a line-up of Jordan, Bresee, Ridgeway and Saunders Iined up along the D-Line all at the same time with Granderson and Chase out wide on the edges and let offenses try to run through that. It's basically how the Eagles lined up against us.

Preach, gentlemen! Massive supporter of Brown's run stuffing prowess that short time he was here and been pounding that table since he was traded without any viable contingencies in place.

1/10/2021

As I’ve said in previous threads, he’s a massive cog of our defense’s run game success. He’s an absolute stump out there.

Without Malcom Brown...

@ Eagles: 6.8 YPC (36 att, 246 yds), 2 TD​

vs. Chiefs: 4.4 YPC (41 att, 179 yds), 1 TD​

vs. Vikings: 5.3 YPC (17 att, 90 yds, 2 TD​

94 attempts, 515 yards, 5.5 YPC, 5 TD

With Malcom Brown...

​

vs. Buccaneers: 3.3 YPC (26 att, 86 yds), 1 TD​

@ Raiders: 3.3 YPC (35 att, 116 yds), 1 TD​

vs. Packers: 3.8 YPC (26 att, 98 yds), 1 TD​

@ Lions: 4.1 YPC (22 att, 90 yds), 1 TD​

vs. Chargers: 3.5 YPC (32 att, 111 yds), 0 TD​

vs. Panthers: 2.2 YPC (14 att, 31 yds), 1 TD​

@ Bears: 4.2 YPC (23 att, 96 yds), 0 TD​

@ Buccaneers: 1.6 YPC (5 att, 8 yds), 0 TD​

vs. 49ers: 2.0 YPC (24 att, 49 yds), 0 TD​

vs. Falcons: 3.7 YPC (14 att, 52 yds), 0 TD​

@ Broncos: 3.0 YPC (33 att, 100 yds), 0 TD​

@ Falcons: 3.3 YPC (21 att, 70 yds), 0 TD​

@ Panthers: 3.7 YPC (20 att, 74 yds), 1 TD​

vs. Bears: 2.5 YPC (19 att, 48 yds), 0 TD​

314 attempts, 1029 yards, 3.3 YPC, 6 TD

PUT SOME RESPEK ON THAT MAN’S NAME!

6/29/2022

We need a NT more than another 3-tech. Onyemata is locked into that position as the starter and Suh won't sign here to play second fiddle.

Tuttle is serviceable but feel we could do better. Malcom Brown eating space in the interior of our line was sorely missed last year.

11/21/2023

We've honestly needed a nose tackle since we traded Malcom Brown to the Jaguars in 2021.

Run defense has been in decline ever since the philosophy shift in the prototypical IDL sizes they were searching for as pointed out before by another poster in this thread and others.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I think people just gotta face the fact he's a 35 year old Linebacker. He defied the odds wonderfully, but the lug nuts holding the wheels on are starting to loosen.

We knew it would happen, that's why getting Willie Gay in here was important. Getting him indoctrinated in the defense for a year on a single season deal to see if he's a fit gives you an inside track to a DD replacement. He's got the size/weight/speed thing going but he's a frenetic LB that takes a ton of false steps.

Working w/ Hodges should be good for his development.

I actually think Turner is better than he's being given credit for. He missed last game w/ knee but he flashed vs the Falcons late, and DA talked about getting him more involved in the rush.

Granderson = Nick Fairley on the edge, the similarities in how they play are crazy.

With all that being said, the Saints need at least one LARGE body on the interior to balance out the smaller players. Not sure why we had Shepherd playing NT on a bunch of snaps, he was getting blown off the ball in the running game and obviously couldn't hold double teams.

Interior rush defense looked more stout with Bink and Ridgeway, but passrush looked better when Bresee was in.

I remember when DA first came back, Roman Harper said his defense was more 3-4 in design and since Grantham has come in, he's showing far more stand up rusher looks. Howver, the alignment seems to make it easier to block guys out of lanes, so I feel like they need bigger bodys.

Draft a NT, move Bresee to LDE or 5tech on base downs, and suddenly the front gets a bit bigger but should still maintain its athleticism.


One more random thought, I got tired of watching Carl Granderson drop in coverage, I'm sure I counted 3x's in he was dropped in space and guarding grass. If you want to do that type of stuff, make Granderson your right DE, and draft or sign a rush Sam who can play on the LOS but also has experience dropping in coverage. Someone like Kyle Van Noy

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

“I actually think Turner is better than he's being given credit for. He missed last game w/ knee but he flashed vs the Falcons late, and DA talked about getting him more involved in the rush.”

@ELLIASJWILLIAMS
It’s hard to know what talent he has as he almost never plays. This has been a recurring theme with him for years now. Nothing new.

I could be wrong but I think that’s why he’s referred to as a bust by many.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

“I actually think Turner is better than he's being given credit for. He missed last game w/ knee but he flashed vs the Falcons late, and DA talked about getting him more involved in the rush.”

@ELLIASJWILLIAMS
It’s hard to know what talent he has as he almost never plays. This has been a recurring theme with him for years now. Nothing new.

I could be wrong but I think that’s why he’s referred to as a bust by many.

I mean he's 5 games into the season and not on IR...that's progress and I think a first so far.

Another random thought....Deone Walker is the NT I want next year.

 

[B_doggman47]

I mean he's 5 games into the season and not on IR...that's progress and I think a first so far.

Another random thought....Deone Walker is the NT I want next year.

I haven't watched him play yet this year, but the next Kentucky game I can catch, I will be watching him. I have been reading a lot of reports about him and I've liked everything I've read about him. His only weaknesses are his conditioning and his technique, he gets too high with his pad level. that can all get fixed with coaching. Deone Walker- NT, 6'6"/345#. He could be a day one starter.

 

[EvilMike]

We need a new defensive coordinator. DA's defense fold like a cheap lawn chair when the game is on the line i.e. weeks 3 and 4.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I haven't watched him play yet this year, but the next Kentucky game I can catch, I will be watching him. I have been reading a lot of reports about him and I've liked everything I've read about him. His only weaknesses are his conditioning and his technique, he gets too high with his pad level. that can all get fixed with coaching. Deone Walker- NT, 6'6"/345#. He could be a day one starter.

Oddly enough the things I’ve heard about him is his ridiculous conditioning and high motor and snap count. Perhaps I’m thinking of a different NT

 

[Epic Brownie]

Not sure where we go from here. Teams taking notice fast and we're exposed.

Unless we figure something out quick we're going to be in trouble unless we score fast and often early and get leads.

#1 off-season need : run plugging DT